SONIPAT: In a bid to strengthen infrastructure support to the local industries, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 205.7 crore for 25 road projects in nine districts of Haryana, including Sonipat and Karnal. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) falling in the area of these 25 road projects have welcomed the initiative and reverberated in unison that it would help the industries grow once the proposed roads become operational.

"The funds have been sanctioned under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)," said K Sayeed Ali, chief general manager, Nabard of Haryana Regional Office. He further added that the construction of roads would provide improved connectivity to 140 villages, 72 marketing centres, several educational and public health institutions, etc.

"With this sanction, the cumulative RIDF assistance sanctioned to Haryana has reached Rs 3,724.13 crore, since the inception of RIDF in 1995-96, and an amount of Rs 2,302.08 crore has been disbursed there by Nabard till date," stated the Haryana chapter of Nabard in a written statement.

"Nine beneficiary districts of the project are Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rewari, Sonipat and Yamuna Nagar," the Nabard official said. Elaborating about job opportunities through this project, Ali said that the project is expected to generate about 15.30 lakh man-days of non-recurring employment during implementation.

BUSINESSMEN ON CLOUD-9

Happy with the announcement, Sukhmal Jain, member of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce said, "This project would help in the expansion of existing businesses in the region by around 25 percent by aiding most of the industries existing in Haryana. These 25 road projects would add around 70-75 marketing stations on the same business map, which includes Bahadurgarh, IMT Rohtak, Kundli, Sonipat, Barhi and Rai industrial areas, Aparel Park in Sonipat, Plywood industry of Yamuna Nagar and to some extent textile industry of Panipat."

Subhash Gupta, VP of Kundli Industrial Area said, "Roads and infrastructure facility is a major dent to our business. Thankfully, this move will save the dying industries of Kundli Industrial Area. Otherwise, the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HSIIDC) had failed to meet our expectations miserably, though HSIIDC is expected to provide such facilities to the state industries." Gupta said that most of the industries operating in the region are vendors to giant firms and hence requires quality infrastructure, which is lacking not just in Sonipat but also in most of the area under this project. "If the projects meet their deadline, then our business would take a leap of 30-35 percent because deliverance would become smooth and better transportation facilities would attract other firms to interact with the local vendors."

Ramesh Verma, president of Panipat Handloom Manufacturers Association said, "The successful completion of this project would give an opportunity to our home textile businessmen to open their chapter at the Apparel Park in Sonipat and increase their business as the infrastructure and business environment there is more conducive than in Panipat."

GROWTH FOR LOGISTICS BIZ

Not only will the industrial areas benefit from this project, but it is also expected to boost the transport and logistics business. Jagdeep Malik, president of the Panipat Goods and Transport Association said that the project would boost the logistics business in the region as the service providing agencies would be able to deliver the assignments on time in a smooth manner.

He said that though Panipat is not mentioned in this project, it would be an indirect beneficiary of this initiative as it connects Sonipat and Karnal. "We are expecting around 10-15 percent growth in our logistics business once these roads become operational." He added that direct players in logistics business under this project would log around 25-30 percent growth in their business.

When asked about the reason behind this bullish prediction, Malik said, "We need to open our office in Sonipat and Karnal and other things can be managed by sitting in Panipat once the roads are made."

He said that it would take around one hour to reach either Sonipat or Karnal and being a logistics businessman; it won't be a difficult task to handle clients in these two neighbouring districts.